Stage adaptations of popular anime films are all the rage right now. With a live interpretation of Makoto Shinkai’s The Garden of Words opening at the Park Theatre next week (we spoke to director Alexandra Rutter here), and following on from the RSC’s acclaimed My Neighbour Totoro production in 2022, Japanese theatre company TOHO Co Ltd have announced a London staging of beloved Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away.
Arriving at the London Coliseum in April 2024, the film has been re-imagined for the stage by the Toho Theatrical Department and Les Misérables director John Caird. Following a sell-out tour of Japan in 2022, the London staging will be presented in the original Japanese, with English captions.
In a statement, Caird said, “I am proud and delighted to present the original Japanese stage production of Spirited Away at the Coliseum Theatre next year.”
The stage show features many puppets designed by Toby Olié
“We had a wonderful time creating the show in 2022, and I’m so happy now to be spiriting away a British audience into Hayao Miyazaki’s magical world. A world of gods and frogs, dragons and sorcerers, giant-sized babies and bouncing heads, spider-armed boilermen, no-faced loners and a young girl’s valiant quest for courage, identity and love.”
Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 film was the highest-grossing film in Japan the year of its release and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2003. Spirited Away tells the story of young girl Chihiro who, while travelling to a new home with her family, stumbles into a world of fantastic spirits ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba. When her parents are turned into pigs and she is put to work in a magical bathhouse, Chihiro must use her wits to survive in this strange new place and return to the normal world.
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Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki said, “The day we first met John Caird, Hayao Miyazaki and I thought he was the perfect director for the production.”
“It was thanks to the hard work of John, the cast, and all those involved that the premiere production received such high acclaim. I wish to express my deepest respect to all involved in the creation of this monumental piece of theatre. I really look forward to Spirited Away being enjoyed by audiences in London.”
Spirited Away will play at the London Coliseum Theatre for 12 weeks from April 2024. Sign up for early ticket access here.
